Babruysk fortress

[2] In 1810, Tsar Alexander I sent out his military engineer Teodor Narbutt to find a site suitable for building a fortress somewhere on the Dnieper, between Mogilev and Rogachev in order to prepare for the looming threat in Western Europe.

However, after his investigation, Narbut advised his superiors that a more strategic position would be on the shore of the Berezina river near Babruysk.

This decision was approved by the Chief of Military Engineers, Count Carl Operman, who at the time had authority over all of Russian forts.

After the French army captured Minsk, General Ignatiev took command of the fort and the city of Babruysk, which served as a holdout for the retreating Russian forces.

The city faced an attack by the forces of General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski, the Polish Corps Commander of Napoleon's Army.